From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2007-06-21 18:08:39 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Periodontal Disease and other food comments
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
--- In ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com, Sukie Crandall <sukie@...> wrote:
>
> Well, is it really, really, really, really, really , really
Pretty obviously, that should be "it is" isnt' of "is it" and I think the other typos I made are
understandable.
Essential to point out is that meat itself is already low in many vitamins and down right
deficient in many minerals so pet foods and whole prey diets do not use just meats.
There is a lot of arguing on each side but not enough is known, and it is important to
remember that people like Danee who have experience with over a hundred ferrets over a
space of over 20 years have 2,000 ferret-years of experience under many conditions,
many ages, etc.
I realize that when new to any given animal there will be assumptions, like the assumption
that a person could encounter gum problems typically in a very young ferret, and I am
sure that if I got a horse I'd make similar leaps which would have Kim saying, "Slow down,
listen to both sides, and wait till more is known on this topic." I am also sure that Kim
would be right with that warning because she knows horses so well. Sometimes, the only
real answer is patience till more is known.
Even if a person just looks at the ferret people and their differences of opinion and not at
the research (though it really make sense to look at research and follow links in posts in
the archives) it becomes obvious that there are only a few aspects of diet on which a
person can safely state or assume absolutes (like too much of certain specific marine
mollusks or marine fish can cause nutritional steatis in ferrets). Those ones are in vet
texts and articles in juried journals with independent confirmation.
Should there be big things to remember I guess that they are these:
1. There is too much still unknown
2. Ferrets are not dogs, cats, humans, or horses
3. No matter what is fed be sure the diet is balanced
4. Every diet is imperfect so know the downsides as well as the upsides so that you know
what to do if something goes wrong
5. Be willing to learn to learn but make sure there is valid and unbiased, independent
confirmation of what you read and that it had met challenges
6. Dental and gum care -- when needed -- are among the important parts of health care
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
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